US Labor Force Data Remaining Resilient

AUD

The AUD starts the week off mixed against the majors after the King's Birthday Public Holiday long weekend. Commodities offered no clear direction with Gold -0.1%, Silver -0.2%, and Iron Ore and Copper both +1.5%. Asian equities on the other hand closed in the green with the ASX +0.5%, Shanghai Comp +0.1%, and the Nikkei +0.9%. No major local news set for release today with only the NAB Business Confidence at 11:30am, however all attention will be focused on our employment data set for release this Thursday with the number of new jobs created for the month expected to decrease from last month's 38.5k to 30.5k, and our Unemployment Rate forecasted to improve from 4.1% to 4.0%. RBA Governor Michele Bullock is watching employment closely, having said last week that the labour market is easing on a number of measures, so a reduction in headline unemployment at a time when the RBA is expecting it to increase may nudge the economy of the "narrow path". 

USD

The AUDUSD opens lower this morning at 0.6608 after falling heavily over the weekend, dropping to 4-week lows of 0.6577 as the US dollar surged due to strong US jobs data on Friday night. The Non-farm payrolls data exceeding expectations, showing 272k new jobs created, well above the forecast 182k. With the Average Hourly Earnings m/m also exceeding expectations, markets were busy adjusting odds for two Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year, resulting in a resurgent USD. Last night US equities closed in the green with the Dow Jones +0.2%, S&P 500 +0.3%, and the NASDAQ +0.3%. No news set for release today, as all eyes will be focused on the CPI releases tomorrow night which may provide further clues on whether the Fed will raise rates, with Core CPI m/m forecast to remain flat at 0.3%, while CPI m/m set to fall from 0.3% to 0.1%, and CPI y/y set to remain flat at 3.4%.

EUR

The AUDEUR briefly lost the 0.61 handle on Friday night before rallying throughout Monday, opening higher this morning at 0.6139 after European Parliamentary Elections results led to some EUR weakness. European equities also felt the effects closing lower with the DAX -0.3%, and CAC -1.3%. A quiet week ahead for the Eurozone with no major data set for release until this weekend when ECB President Lagarde speaks.

GBP

The AUDGBP lost its 0.52 handle leading into the weekend, and despite a small rally yesterday, is opening this morning overall lower at 0.5190. Looking at UK equities the FTSE closed in the red -0.2%. Busy week for the pound starting off with Claimant Count Change, Average Earnings Index 3m/y, Unemployment Rate set for release this afternoon at 4pm, with Claimant count set for an increase from 8.9k to 10.2k, while Average Earnings (5.7%) and Employment rate set to remain flat at 4.3%. We will also see the GDP m/m set for release tomorrow with the forecast being a decrease from 0.4% to 0%.

NZD

The AUDNZD coupling opens up this morning slightly higher at 1.0780. No news set for release today and will be a quiet week, with only Visitor Arrivals m/m set for release tomorrow morning, and BusinessNZ Manufacturing Index, and FPI m/m set for release on Friday morning.